The wheels are not only turning, the train has already well and truly left the station and it is heading full throttle towards the promised land of the Rafalution.

Newcastle United should be in turmoil. There should be anarchy on Tyneside. This great club has fallen down the Premier League abyss and into the Championship at the worst possible time given the riches on offer above.

Yet right at the bottom of that chasm there has been a Rafa Benitez-sized cushion which has not only softened the blow of relegation, it had an almost trampoline-style effect of bouncing Tyneside back towards positivity.

Season-ticket sales are almost unprecedented, fans are genuinely excited about the club they so dearly love once again - and so they should be.

When Benitez put pen to paper on that renegotiated three-year contract, he not only committed himself to the club, but he also signed a promise to every Newcastle fan that a radical overhaul would soon be afoot.

It has already well and truly started in earnest.

During the first half of a two-part exclusive Q&A with The Chronicle, Benitez has offered supporters an insight into those changes.

It was Benitez who approached The Chronicle; he wants to be honest with fans. He does not want an information vacuum to exist, he wants to be open with supporters.

So what of the training ground? Joe Kinnear promised changes three years ago, but none arrived.

Benitez joined the club in mid-March, and already his alterations have started.

“The purpose with everything we are doing there is to improve the environment that the players train in and the equipment and the facilities that they use so they are able to perform to their optimum level,” Benitez explained.

“We had to consider not to disturb the preparation of the team and at the same time to improve the facilities.”

Not only will 4G pitches be introduced at both the first-team and Academy training grounds, the entire building will be renovated inside.

Benitez wants players to socialise, to relax, to be able to use the space to harness team spirit - so there will be new gym facilities, state-of-the-art equipment, as well as recuperation areas.

Perhaps the most intriguing change there though is the recruitment of an “administrator”.

Explaining in his own words, Benitez reveals why this is crucial: “Another important change we are making is to bring in an administrator to work with the players and their families.

“This will be someone who speaks English, French, Spanish, to help players settle at the club and in the city and be sure that they are able to focus 100 per cent on the football.”